Note for new subscribers: On Fridays I send out a post with a list of various notable quotes from the past week, along with links to some of the best reading material I’ve come across. You can opt out of these posts by simply clicking on the top right and going to “manage subscription.”
“This has been, quite frankly, a car accident in slow motion that we’ve seen over and building and questioning it and, you know, as it’s been pointed out, Joe Biden sought this debate at this remarkably early time because he knew he was losing and he needed to change the narrative, and he did change the narrative: he sunk his campaign tonight.” — CNN’s Chris Wallace
“After the second commercial break, I asked my focus group of undecided voters how many are more convinced to vote for Donald Trump. 10 of 14 raised their hands… Even if they didn’t like Donald Trump. One said: ‘I don’t even know if Biden can make it to November!’” — Pollster Frank Luntz
“At the end of the day, Joe Biden looks like the caricature that conservative media has been painting. And there were no clips tonight, right? This was—you saw it before your eyes…I’ve been talking to a lot of leaders in the Democratic party, electeds, coalition leaders: there’s a full on panic about this performance. Not like, ‘oh this is recoverable.’ It’s more like ‘okay, he’s gotta step aside.’ There’s a lot of that chatter. This is about as bad of a performance that Biden could have delivered if his goal was to calm the waters among Democrats.” — MSNBC’s Chuck Todd
“To be clear, we never have and never will endorse Biden.” — A statement from the Border Patrol Union, which Biden claimed during the debate had endorsed him.
“I, too, was on the phone during much of the debate, with Obama world people, with Democrats, with people who are political operatives, with campaign operatives. My phone really never stopped buzzing throughout. And the universal reaction was somewhere approaching panic. The people who were texting with me were very concerned about President Biden seeming extremely feeble, seeming extremely weak.” — MSNBC’s Joy Reid
“The voice, open-mouthed look, and visual contrast between President Biden and former President Trump all have Democrats I’m talking to nearly beside themselves watching this debate.” — CNN’s Kasie Hunt
“If I’m understanding correctly, the overarching message of the last two weeks has been that Donald Trump is set to become a dictator if he wins in November, but that, in spite of this, it’s just awful that the Supreme Court won’t let the executive branch run its own trials or impose criminal penalties without Congress, and it’s just great that the executive branch remains able to strip constitutional rights without due process and bully Facebook into moderating as it sees fit.” — National Review’s Charles Cooke, on the incoherence of progressive Supreme Court commentary.
“EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP ON TAPE CALLS TAYLOR SWIFT ‘BEAUTIFUL’ 5 TIMES” — CNN chyron
“My husband called a priest last year and found out the exorcism would cost around £500. I’m not saying Neil’s tight, but he chose to buy a bottle of holy water and do it himself, which is why I’m still possessed of a demon that refuses to believe women have dicks.” — J.K. Rowling, in response to someone on X asking her if she’s been radicalized past the point of salvation.
“Today’s decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho. It is delay. While this Court dawdles and the country waits, pregnant people experiencing emergency medical conditions remain in a precarious position, as their doctors are kept in the dark about what the law requires.” — Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, regarding SCOTUS dismissing Idaho v. United States without making a decision on emergency abortion care.
“I might have missed it, but has the Times or any other major US paper covered these reports of Israel training dogs to rape Palestinian prisoners?” — Briahna Joy Gray, formerly of The Hill
“I wanna be clear, we don’t use the term illegal, they’re undocumented individuals.” — MSNBC’s Symone D. Sanders, who said this in the middle of a discussion with Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts about a 12-year-old girl who was savagely raped and killed by 2 illegal migrants.
“The fact of the matter is our policy is working!” — DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, when asked by CNN’s Kate Bolduan why polls show voters believe Trump would handle the border better than the Biden administration.
“The terrifying truth is that the people making these decisions just aren’t very bright. They really think it’s a game of Risk or something.” — Matt Taibbi, on the Biden administration “moving toward” allowing American military contractors to deploy to Ukraine.
“Stop thanking people for their military service and start asking how many civilians they killed instead.” — Porn star Mia Khalifa
“The elites are driven entirely by the impulse to control. They detest democracy, which keeps getting in their way, and much prefer a golden ideal they possessively call ‘Our Democracy’—their own rule in perpetuity. Individual rights are unfortunate legacies from a simpler era.” — Former CIA analyst Martin Gurri
“A woman is a person who says she is.” — Columbia law professor Maya Wiley, when asked by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) if she could define what a woman is.
“Texas Rangers frustrate LGBTQ advocates as only MLB team without a Pride Night” — NBC News headline
“Gallup found abortion was the second most important issue (42 percent of voters, just below the economy) for voters the week before the 2022 election. Now, Gallup finds just 3 percent of voters list it as their top issue.” — Ben Domenech, editor of The Spectator
“Democratic culture has too many preachy females. ‘Don’t eat hamburgers, don’t watch football, wear a condom!’ Like, man, shit, leave me alone. We’re gonna lose Hispanic males, we’re gonna fucking lose ‘em!” — James Carville, having a meltdown on the Donny Deutsch podcast.
“That case, the attorney general’s case in New York, frankly, should have never been brought. If his name was not Donald Trump and if he wasn’t running for president. I’m the former AG in New York. I’m telling you, that case would have never been brought. And that’s what is offensive to people. And it should be!” — Andrew Cuomo, during an appearance on the Bill Maher show.
“A male asking to be recognized as a woman is not a claim for equality; it is a belief claim. That is, the male is not asking to be treated the same as other males. He is asking others to participate in his metaphysical belief that he is a woman. That is no different from Catholics asking others to participate in their belief about transubstantiation.” — Rutgers professor Gary Francione
“BuzzFeed, once valued at more than $1 billion by private investors, now has a market capitalization of just $78 million.” — Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw
“The Problem With Erik: Privilege, Blackmail, and Murder for Hire in Austin,” from Texas Monthly.
Wired: “The Cheating Scandal That Ripped the Poker World Apart”
An N.S. Lyons piece on why conservatives should “Cast Away Illusions and Prepare for Struggle.”
“Research into trans medicine has been manipulated,” from The Economist.
A New York Times story about “How the War in Gaza Disrupted an Elite Private School.”
The New Yorker: “Would You Clone Your Dog?”
A Puck News piece on The Washington Post coup.
“Inside Snapchat’s Teen Opioid Crisis,” from Rolling Stone.
Blood pressure considerations prevent dwelling too long on the quotes, but a hell of an intellectual distance from the sublime Martin Gurri to the abysmal Briahna Joy Gray......
All these filthy talking-head propagandists like Chris Wallace, Joy Reid, etc., had their talking points ready post debate. Biden was obviously "allowed" to debate for the purpose of public humiliation and setting the stage for his replacement. The media immediately threw him under the bus for the first time in four years, always covering for his previous disastrous policies, gaffes and performances.